


Connecting

by Jestana



Category: Numb3rs
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, F/M, Female!Larry Fleinhardt, Male!Megan Reeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-20
Updated: 2012-08-20
Packaged: 2017-11-12 12:45:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/491166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jestana/pseuds/Jestana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laurie Fleinhardt and Kevin Reeves form an unlikely connection</p>
            </blockquote>





	Connecting

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote the first scene for a meme I did back in 2010: [Ten Alternate Universes](http://feline-artistry.livejournal.com/84340.html). This one particularly drew me in and I ended up writing this monster. I'm hoping to finish more stories inspired by that meme. Some of the scenes are taken right from the series, tweaked to account for the genderswapping.

**Connecting**

"Hey, Charles?" Professor Laurie Fleinhardt poked her head into her colleague's office and stopped short when she saw the stranger in a dress suit. "Oh, I'm sorry, I can come back another time if you're busy."

Charlie waved her in. "It's all right, Laurie. This is Special Agent Kevin Reeves. He just recently joined Don's team."

"Oh, okay." Laurie smiled bashfully and entered the office fully. Kevin had to be a full head taller than her rather petite 5'4", with thick tawny blond hair and gray-green eyes. She shifted her grip on her tray of food to offer her hand to the agent. "Hello, Agent Reeves."

He smiled and shook her hand, his grip firm, but not overly so. "It's a pleasure, Professor Fleinhardt. Do you help Don on his cases, too?"

"Not as extensively as Charles," she admitted, noticing that, while Agent Reeves wasn't as broad as David, he was still fit and trim. "I _do_ occasionally offer my own insights when Charles forgets to factor the human element into his equations."

Her friend made a face and bumped her shoulder with his. "Hey, you do more than that, Laurie."

"Perhaps," she conceded modestly, inclining her head slightly. She made a noise of frustration when the action caused some of her sandy brown curls to fall into her eyes. Before she could shift her grip on her tray once again, Kevin reached up to brush her curls back for her. Blushing, she managed to stammer out some coherent words, "Th-thank you, Agent Reeves."

He grinned and patted her shoulder lightly. "Not at all, Professor. If you two will excuse me, I should get back to the office."

"No problem, Kevin." Charlie waved the other man out of the office.

Laurie remained rooted to the spot, still feeling the warmth of Kevin's fingers on her temple. _Get a grip, Fleinhardt! A handsome man like that won't be interested in a plain, nerdy woman like you!_

* * *

Kevin hadn't expected to find Charlie, Amita, and Laurie out in the parking lot when he headed over to CalSci, but he was not going to object when it meant he'd get a close-up look of a beautiful classic car. From the way Charlie and Amita were looking at the car, neither had really seen the car before, so that left one person to have bought the car, and Kevin addressed her with a grin. "Nice car, Dr. Fleinhardt. Is it new?"

"Well, in the sense that it's newly in my possession," she answered, smiling shyly up at him as he came to a stop beside her.

He glanced briefly at Charlie and Amita, acknowledging their presence, before returning his attention to the astrophysicist. "And it's like a...'32?"

"'31, actually," Laurie corrected him, her face lighting up as she expounded further. "Dawn of an amazing decade: FDR, Jesse Owen, Dierach's prediction of anti-particles." She sighed nostalgically. "Yeah, our souls were rekindled."

Charlie interrupted just then, teasing his friend with a mischievous glance at Kevin, who'd begun to walk around the car, admiring the beauty and elegance of its design. "I can't help but see it as seventy-year-old technology."

"You're just jealous because you can't drive a stick shift." Laurie teased him right back, though Kevin could tell her attention was mostly on him.

The younger professor grinned and clapped a hand on her shoulder, "Hey, nothing beats automatic transmission with cruise control."

"Charlie tells us you're looking for Skyler Wyatt's stalker." Kevin suspected Amita brought it up more to stop the banter than because she was truly curious. The graduate student seemed a little jealous of the time Charlie spent with Laurie.

Kevin reluctantly moved away from the car to answer Amita's question. "Yeah, her security video didn't pick up his image and I understand that camera placement is done by math formulas. Well, whoever designed it probably isn't as good as you, so--" he produced the CD with the footage on it, offering it to Charlie. "--maybe you'll find something they missed?"

"Hmm, Laurie, a more modern pursuit." The two professors headed back towards the building, leaving Amita and Kevin alone by Laurie's car.

The special agent studied the graduate student for a moment. "I don't think you have anything to worry about, Amita."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Amita retorted, even though her eyes were on the pair of professors.

Kevin grinned, reaching out to pat her shoulder briefly. "Oh, I think you do. That is one of the best examples of a platonic male-female relationship I could hope to see."

"Sometimes I feel left out, when they get going," Amita admitted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "They've known each other since Charlie went to Princeton and I've only known them since I came to CalSci."

He frowned, glancing in the direction the other two had gone. "They were students together? I didn't think she was _that_ young."

"No, Charlie was Laurie's student," she explained with a smile. "Nothing happened _then_ , but that doesn't mean nothing will happen _now_."

Kevin smiled reassuringly. "Next time the three of you are hanging out, pay attention to how Laurie talks and relates with Charlie. Pay particular attention to where her eyes go."

"Okay." Amita looked puzzled, but nodded all the same.

He glanced at his watch. "I have to get back to the office. Talk to you later."

"See you."

* * *

"Did they send him home?" Laurie asked Charlie once he finished telling her about his eventful morning with the FBI.

Her friend looked up from his laptop, his expression exasperated. "I _told_ you, Laurie, Kevin's okay."

"Yeah, but this agent was killed, right?" She couldn't keep still, the thought of Kevin so close to an explosion agitating her more than she'd like to admit.

Charlie nodded, resuming his typing. "Yes."

"Well, he's gonna feel responsible." She might not know Kevin as well as she'd like to, but she knew enough to be certain of that fact at least.

"I was there. It was clearly not his fault." It sounded like Charlie had said that more than once already.

She waved that away. Whether Kevin truly was at fault or not, _he_ would think of the agent's death as his responsibility. "But this degree of traumatic experience would disturb even the most stable of homo-sapiens. He may have a psychology degree, but he's still subject to the same roller coaster of emotions as every other human being."

"You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you, Laurie?" Charlie was grinning slyly, even as he continued to work, the picture changing as he did.

Laurie paused in her pacing, turning it into a perch on the desk. "Yeah, I guess I have." She picked up the Rubik's Cube on Charlie's desk and began to fiddle with it. "Do you think it would be inappropriate to send him something?"

"Like what?" Charlie asked, glancing at her with a raised eyebrow. "Flowers? For a man? Not exactly a good idea."

She shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe some sort of other plant, though? It'd be less girly and therefore less embarrassing to him."

"That could work, yeah," Charlie agreed, just before glancing from the picture to his laptop, and back again. "This is so odd."

Later on, Laurie decided to send Kevin a bamboo plant, anonymously, to avoid any possibility of outright rejection while still offering some sort of comfort.

* * *

Kevin was so involved in his reading that he didn't notice Laurie Fleinhardt until he'd almost run into her. "Oh, hi, Agent Reeves."

"Professor Fleinhardt! I don't think Charlie's here." He couldn't imagine another reason for the astrophysicist to come by the FBI offices except to look for her younger colleague, not that he really minded a chance to talk with her.

She smiled shyly as she admitted, "Actually, I came to talk to you."

"Oh, if you're here to offer me a ride in that car, I can't go right now." Kevin really wished he could, though. He'd been looking forward to riding in Laurie's car with her.

Laurie shook her head, indicating the file folder of papers in his hand. "Actually, I came to talk to you about that."

"The manifesto?" That surprised him. How would she have gotten hold of a copy? Unless she got Charlie's copy, which Kevin didn't doubt.

She nodded as they began walking towards the bullpen. "Um, you see, I'm a reader, and readers read. I just-- I happened upon Charlie's copy of this and, well, I tell you, I was riveted."

"Well, we have slightly different literary tastes." He couldn't help a wry smile at that, amused not only by the fact that Laurie had found the manifesto riveting, but also by her tendency to ramble a little. He found it very endearing.

Ducking her head shyly, the professor asked, "Tell me, what do you make of this author?"

"Um, well, the use of the word 'manifesto' in and of itself suggests an inflated sense of destiny." There was always something to be determined from a person's choice of words, especially for the title of a work like this. "Paranoid. Delusions of grandeur."

"Yeah, but-- but his discussions of, uh, quantum chemistry-- these sent me back to my reference books." Kevin watched, fascinated, as Laurie warmed to her topic, shyness disappearing in her earnestness to share what she'd gleaned from the work. "And this man not only knows whereof he speaks-- some of his scientific arguments, well, they're downright revolutionary!"

Kevin stopped and turned to Laurie at her last words, realizing what she was getting at. "You're saying he's a scientist?"

"Oh, a gifted one." Laurie nodded, turning the pages in her hand. "And what was particularly interesting to me was his mention of this man, McHugh."

He nodded, placing a hand on the small of her back to gently start her walking again. "Yes, yes, Bob McHugh. He's a federal fugitive and we think he's trying to contact him, but we have no idea why."

"Right, and Charlie mentioned there was some confusion there and that's really why I'm here." Laurie nodded, her cheeks flushing a little. "Now, listen, you can throw me out at any moment, because, obviously, you're the experts; I'm just an amateur, but this is just what struck me." They'd reached Kevin's desk by now and he leaned one hip against it as Laurie continued, her attention focused solely on him. "Graybridge Pharmaceuticals is this man's Frankenstein monster and he will not be swayed from his path until that monster is laid to rest."

He straightened up at that, his own attention sharpening at the potential impact of her suggestion. "So you're saying the connection isn't between McHugh and this man. The connection is between McHugh and Graybridge Pharmaceuticals?"

"Well, at least in his mind, that's the case." Laurie tapped her temple, reminding Kevin that they were trying to get in the author's head.

He nodded slowly, grinning a little as he asked, "Riveted, huh?"

"Well, I read it straight through, twice. Because, in case we were going to-- you know, if we-- to show that I knew what--" Laurie paused and closed her eyes, blushing fiercely, her typical self-consciousness returning now that she'd offered her opinion on the author of the manifesto. Opening her eyes, she explained, "I just wanted to make sure I knew what I was talking about."

Kevin smiled reassuringly, hoping to soothe her self-consciousness. "I've never heard you when you didn't."

Unfortunately, that just made Laurie blush even more and quickly excuse herself. Kevin watched until she'd disappeared into the elevator. Only after the doors had closed behind her did he sit down at his computer to start searching based on the new angle she'd provided. Even as he worked, part of him remembered the way she'd looked when she forgot herself completely in favor of the topic at hand. _I wonder if she's like that when she's teaching, too..._

* * *

Even though she _knew_ Leonard, remembered how the gambling had ruined his life, Laurie had still hoped that he'd seen the error of his ways, but apparently he hadn't. She let her disappointment and sadness show when she finally came face to face with him. "Well, I see, once again, you've escaped all responsibility for your actions. Oh, Leonard. You must be _very_ proud of yourself."

"Laurie Fleinhardt." He stared at her as if he couldn't believe he was seeing her, right in front of him. "Wh-what's it been? 25 years?"

She knew damn well he knew _exactly_ how many years it'd been since they'd parted ways. "Twenty-two, Leonard."

"I see your name in journals." Leonard smirked, looking her over from head to toe. No doubt he noticed that her clothes were much more modest than what she'd worn as a graduate student. "Academic life has treated you well."

Laurie shrugged, keeping her arms folded across her chest, hiding what little bosom she'd been blessed with. "Well enough."

"What are you doing here?" His glance took in the entire bullpen around them.

"Just waiting on you." She couldn't contain the anger that had been simmering ever since she'd realized Leonard had not only encouraged these young men, but helped them _cheat_. "How could you _do_ it? You know what the game did to us. How could you visit such a fate upon young, gifted minds?"

Leonard drew himself up defensively. She saw the way his grip tightened on his satchel. "Those kids came to me."

"Instead of sharing your wisdom, two are _dead_ and another's going to prison." She hoped the seriousness of those boys' fate would weigh heavily on Leonard's mind. It certainly would on _hers_ and she'd only been involved in the investigation.

"These kids were a second chance for me. Come on." He scoffed, his expression turned knowing and sly, his words seductive even if his voice wasn't. "Don't tell me you don't remember what it felt like to beat the house at their own game. You were the best I ever saw, Fleinhardt, and you just walked away."

She pointed a finger at him, ignoring the temptation of his words, the memories they dredged up. "That's right, and I never looked back. When the numbers are running you instead of you running the numbers, it's time to take your money off the table, Leonard."

"People make choices they have to live with." His voice was rough with emotion and she hoped that meant he _did_ realize what he'd done to those boys. He may not have pulled the trigger or sent them to jail, but he was the one who'd set them on the path that led to it.

Supremely disappointed over the senseless waste of life, Laurie shook her head. "Well, you know, I know two who will never get that chance."

With that, she turned on her sneakered heel and walked away from Leonard once again. All these years, she'd hoped that Leonard had learned, but he clearly hadn't. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice the agent until he touched her shoulder, making her jump. She managed a wan smile, her heart skipping a beat or two. "Hello, Agent Reeves."

His voice was gentle and empathetic as he replied, "Are you all right, Professor?"

"Profoundly disappointed," she answered quietly, glancing over her shoulder to where Leonard had been standing. By now, though, he was gone. She sighed heavily, turning to look at the federal agent. "How could he do something like that?"

He steered her into a nearby conference room, one with solid walls instead of glass ones. Once he'd closed the door behind them, he gestured for her to sit down at the table, which she did gratefully, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. Over the last few days, she'd seen a softer side of Kevin, likely the side that had led him to study psychology and become a profiler. Ever since she'd admitted to having a gambling problem, he'd been nothing but supportive. With all the memories of those days, he was the one person who didn't force her to talk about it or face it if she didn't want to. He was simply there, ready to listen or just sit with her. At that moment, he set a coffee cup on the table in front of her, his voice gentle as he perched on the table, "I really can't say. From what you've said, he could never walk away from it like you did. He never tried to conquer the addiction. You did, and that's why you're not in his position."

"I can't walk away from it," she confessed to him, her cheeks burning with shame as she bowed her head, remembering more than the 'fwip' of the cards on green felt, the taste of alcohol on her tongue. "What Leonard said was so true."

He reached out to gently tilt her head up and she felt it all the way down to her toes. "What exactly did Leonard say that was so true?"

"Actually, it's more what he reminded me of than what he _said_ ," she answered with a wry smile, her cheeks warm for an altogether different reason.

He laughed, his shoulders shaking as he sat up straight, hands folded together patiently. "All right, what did he remind you of?"

"He reminded me of the rush I'd get when I'd beat the house, when I'd walk out of the casino with more than double the money I'd started with." She reached for the cup of coffee, gulping it down as other memories assaulted her: of adrenaline-fueled kisses, of hearts pounding in chests, of hot breath ghosting over her skin. "It felt so good at the time, but my grades started suffering. I was missing so many classes and forgetting to turn in assignments. I very nearly lost everything like Leonard had, but it would have been so much more disastrous for me: proof that women shouldn't be scientists."

Those perceptive gray-green eyes studied her, as if sensing what she hadn't revealed. "But you didn't. You walked away from it. You saw what it was doing to you and you stopped it from completely ruining your life the way it did Leonard's. _That_ is where you differ from him." He slid from the table, holding her gaze with his as he crouched before her chair. "If those kids had come to you, you would have told them what it almost did to you and refused to help them beat the house. When they went to him, he helped them do something worse than what you two ever did: he helped them _cheat_."

"That's almost the same thing I said to him," she told him quietly, her hands tightening convulsively on the Styrofoam cup. She sighed sadly. "If he had only refused to help them, those two young men would still be alive and the other wouldn't be on his way to jail."

He reached out and gently extracted the cup from her grip before it collapsed and spilled hot coffee all over her lap. That had happened a couple days ago, much to her very profound embarrassment. "People like Leonard Philbrick don't learn from their mistakes. People like Laurie Fleinhardt _do_ , though."

"Thank you, I needed that reassurance." She smiled faintly at him, feeling a little better about the whole situation.

He smiled back and set the cup aside, gently drawing her to her feet as he straightened to his full height. "I'm done for the day, would you like to go somewhere and talk some more?"

Laurie stared at Kevin, speechless that he'd asked _her_ to do something with him that evening. Before she could get her hopes up, she reminded herself, _He probably means it as a friend or colleague..._ Reluctantly, she told him, "I promised Charles I'd have dinner with him, Alan, and Don tonight. Perhaps we can take a rain check?"

He nodded, patting her shoulder. "Yes, a rain check will be just fine."

"I'll see you soon, I expect." She cleared her throat, reluctantly moving away from him. She paused at the door and looked back at him, now leaning back against the table, long legs crossed at the ankles, the very picture of casual, confident ease. "Have I told you how much I appreciate what you've done for me these last few days?"

He shook his head, frowning slightly. "No, you haven't."

"Well, I do. Very much." She smiled shyly, taking hold of the doorknob, but not turning it just yet. She sensed that Kevin had something to say.

He smiled bemusedly. "I'm always glad to help."

"You know, it goes both ways," she told him sincerely, clutching the doorknob. "If you need me for anything, you know where to find me."

He nodded, smiling softly. "Yes, I know."

"I should go." She turned the knob. "Have a good evening, Kevin."

"You, too, Laurie." He remained where he was as she left the conference room, heading for the elevators.

Once she was safe inside one, she tilted her head back against the metal wall. _He'll never see me as anything but a friend, so why do I still react that way to him?_

* * *

Kevin slowly followed Laurie from the conference room to head over to his desk, slumping into the chair with a tired sigh. _At least she suggested a rain check..._ He rubbed the bridge of his nose and stared at the bamboo plant that had arrived the day Gallagher died because of him. The note that had come with it had simply said: _'Mourn for your fallen colleague, but do not wallow. We all die in the end, some sooner than others. Be glad you survived to catch the one responsible for your colleague's death.'_ It hadn't been signed, but Kevin had a good idea as to who'd sent the plant anyway. "You're looking pretty serious there, Kevin."

"Hey, Colby." He smiled up at the shapely blonde as she leaned against the partition. "You taking off now?"

She nodded, arching her eyebrows at him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired I guess." He rubbed his eyes and stood up, retrieving his jacket.

They headed for the elevators together. "What d'you think about Fleinhardt being a gambling woman? I had no idea she had it in her."

"There's always more to someone than meets the eye," Kevin reminded his colleague as they waited for the elevator. "After all, you may play the dumb blonde, but you're one of the smartest people I know, geniuses aside."

She laughed, green eyes sparkling with good humor. "Well, thanks, Kevin. Blow my secret, why don't you?"

"As if there's anyone to hear it anyway." Kevin gestured to indicate the relatively deserted hallway. At that moment, the elevator to their right opened and they stepped onto it. "Speaking of Laurie, do you think it'd be appropriate to send her something?"

Colby frowned and raised an eyebrow at him. "Why would you send her something?"

"For helping on this case even though it obviously made her uncomfortable to revisit this part of her past." Kevin tried to be casual, leaning back against the elevator wall as it slowly descended.

His fellow agent chuckled. "You can send her something if you want, Kevin. I think she'd be happy with whatever you choose."

Kevin arched an eyebrow at that. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing at all." Colby grinned impishly and exited the moment the doors opened.

He followed at a slower pace, walking towards his car. Did Colby's words mean that Laurie was interested in him? Granted, he was handsome enough, but what about when she looked beneath the surface? Did she _like_ that part of him, too, or just his good looks? _I guess the only one who can answer that is Laurie herself..._

* * *

The moment Kevin entered Charlie's office with more files for them, Laurie was intensely aware of his presence, even though she had her back to the door. When Kevin moved past her to study the chalkboard where Charlie had been working, Laurie couldn't help looking him over, admiring how well his tailored suit fit his lean frame, tawny blond hair attractively tousled. Kevin laughed softly when Charlie finished explaining how the algorithm was going to go through the data like a sculptor worked with stone to create a sculpture. "I'm sure there are a lot of women who'd love to use your algorithm on the personals so they can find the perfect man."

Kevin was staring at Laurie when he said the last two words and she blushed fiercely, ducking her head. Before she could formulate a response, Charlie said, apparently addressing Amita, "Oh, hey, you said we were supposed to do something earlier, remember?"

"What?" Amita obviously didn't catch Charlie's hint, whatever it might be.

"You said it, we're supposed to do it, let's go." Charlie could be persistent when he put his mind to it.

Laurie turned to watch as Amita stood up, finally catching the hint, whatever it was. "Right."

"See ya!" Charlie waved at them as he backed towards the door.

Amita gave a small wave as she followed Charlie. "Bye!"

"What in the universe...?" Laurie murmured, puzzled, and turned back to Kevin, wondering if _he_ knew what was going on.

Apparently, he did, because an amused smile was curving his lips as he observed the partially-open door. "Not very subtle, but it worked."

"What worked?" she asked, gazing up at him, her heart suddenly pounding in her chest.

It pounded even faster when Kevin's gaze returned to hers, gray-green eyes calm and hopeful. "Charlie was just giving me privacy so I could ask you a question without anyone else being around."

"Wh-what question is that?" Laurie asked, clutching the figurine from Charlie's desk that she'd been fidgeting with.

Kevin reached out to cover her hands with his, the smile lingering at the corners of his mouth. "Laurie, would you like to have dinner with me, or see a movie, or go dancing?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" She stared at him in stunned surprise. This handsome man who could have any woman at all wanted _her_?

He nodded, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Yes, that's usually the case in these situations."

Laurie took a moment to close her eyes and calm herself. _Why am I questioning this? I should just say yes. He may not ask again if I say no and I_ want _to go..._ Opening her eyes, she smiled up at Kevin. "Yes, I would be glad to have dinner with you."

"I'm glad." He smiled--was that _relief_ she saw in his eyes? "I'll call you."

She nodded, standing up from her perch on the arm of the chair. "I'll be waiting for it."

Before she could react, Kevin leaned down to kiss her cheek, and then left the office, whistling. Laurie remained where she was, staring at the empty doorway. _I'm going on a date with Kevin Reeves. How is this not a dream?_

* * *

When he first arrived at the address Laurie had given him, Kevin wondered if he'd entered it into his GPS navigator incorrectly. _How can a college professor afford a Victorian-style house?_ He spotted a familiar classic car sitting in the driveway before he thought to double-check the address on his GPS with the one he'd written down. _The same way she can afford a classic car, I guess..._

Climbing out of his car, Kevin walked up the path to the front door and rang the doorbell. After a few minutes of waiting, it opened. At first, Kevin could only stare. Laurie wore a simple, yet elegant dress in a medium-dark blue color that helped bring out the blue of her eyes. Of course, the make-up she'd applied helped, too. Her sandy-brown curls, normally left free to tumble around her shoulders, had been pulled back into a twist so only a few wisps remained free to frame her face. "I-is my dress all right? You _did_ say it was a fancy restaurant."

"Yeah, it's _more_ than all right." The uncertainty in Laurie's voice helped Kevin find his. "It's-- _You're_ stunning."

"It's kind of you to say so." Laurie blushed, reaching for her wrap and clutch purse before joining him on the front porch.

He shook his head in fond amusement, offering his arm to her. "It's the truth, Laurie. You're a beautiful woman to start with, but _now_ : you're absolutely gorgeous."

"My cheeks are going to be permanently red at this rate," she commented ruefully even as she took his offered arm.

He chuckled as he led her to his car. " _I_ wouldn't mind. A blush suits you."

"You _would_ say that," she murmured with fond exasperation.

Kevin grinned, opening the passenger door for her. "Of course I would. Number one, it's true and, number two, it made you blush even more."

Laurie slid into the car with little difficulty. It seemed she wore dresses often enough to be able to manage them well enough. "Is that going to be your new goal in life? Make me blush as much as possible?"

"Of course!" Kevin chuckled, closing the door and going around the car to climb behind the wheel. "It's become my number one priority."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Number _one_? More important than catching criminals?"

"Yep." He finished calling up the destination he'd saved on his GPS unit and pulled out onto the street. "Now that I've seen how lovely you are with a blush in your cheeks, I'd like nothing better than to see it again and again."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Laurie raise her hands to her cheeks. "I'm flattered and honored."

"I hoped you would be." He smiled warmly, pleased that she was so flattered.

After a few minutes' silence where Laurie fidgeted with her purse and stared out the window at passing traffic, she asked, "Where are we having dinner?"

"It's a surprise." He chuckled again, amused by how long she'd managed to keep from asking.

She nodded, an amused smile twitching her lips. Rather than pursue that line of questioning, she commented, "So, earlier, I could be wrong, but it felt as if there was a conspiracy going on when Charlie and Amita left so abruptly."

Kevin laughed, remembering how Charlie had unsubtly coaxed Amita into leaving the office. "Charlie is aware that I wanted to ask you out and, after ensuring that my intentions are completely honorable, he agreed to help by giving me a chance to get you alone so I could ask you out."

"Charlie's _younger_ than me," Laurie observed, sounding annoyed. "What business is it of his who I go out with?"

He braked for a light and reached over to rest his hand on her shoulder. "Charlie is your _friend_ and he doesn't want to see you hurt. You can't tell me, if he was female and you were male, that _you_ wouldn't be protective of 'her' virtue."

"In such a case, I would not only be older, but Charlie would have been more sheltered from the world and so 'she' would be more vulnerable anyway." Laurie still sounded nettled by the idea that her young friend had felt a need to protect her virtue.

He stifled a chuckle, starting forward once the light changed. "That's probably true, but relative ages have nothing to do with a man's protectiveness of a female friend."

"You're saying a man will be protective of a female friend regardless of whether he's older or younger than the woman in question?" Laurie shifted in her seat, gazing at him thoughtfully.

Kevin risked a quick glance at the professor. Between the flashes of streetlights and the dimness overall, he couldn't read her expression. "Well, yes, especially if the man and woman in question have been friends for years."

"Hmm." Laurie faced front once more, sounding thoughtful. "You have a good point."

He smiled, keeping his attention on the road. "Thank you."

* * *

Laurie could hardly believe that she really _was_ sitting across from Kevin Reeves in a restaurant on a bona fide date. She was tempted to pinch herself to be sure it wasn't a dream. She came back to herself as the waiter poured wine into a glass and quickly held up a hand to stop him from pouring more. "Oh, that's, no, that's sufficient. Thank you." She smiled shyly as she glanced around the restaurant. "So, the last time I had Ethiopian food, I was at a conference on Bond Secretion in Addis Abeba." She paused when Kevin laughed. "What? Oh, am I being tedious?"

"No!" Kevin shook his head quickly. "No, uh, tedious would be a week at Quantico studying note-taking skills at a crime scene." He paused while they continued their meal. It didn't escape Laurie's notice that Kevin seemed to be pushing his food around on the plate more than eating it. She chose not to comment on it, though it worried her a little. Finally, he broke the silence. "Oh, speaking of which, I heard you and Charlie went down to the school?"

She nodded distantly, wondering how Kevin could stand to see things like this every day. "Yeah, it was horrific. I just kept thinking all the while, if I could only you know, corral a wormhole, go back in time, and just, talk to these young men before they did it. "

"And what would you say to them?" Kevin gazed at her with honest curiosity in his green eyes.

"I would say: _'High school is ephemeral and, I don't know if the meek inherit the earth, but Bill Gates and the Google guys, you know, they did all right.'_ " She glanced shyly at Kevin, wondering what he would think of her words.

Kevin smiled even as he nodded. "You seem to have done well."

She scoffed, remembering her high school years. Small, shy, and mousy, the more popular girls had made fun of her and the boys hadn't really paid attention to her. Well, men still didn't really pay attention to her, but that was okay. "No, well now, but in high school? I don't think you and I would have been at the same table." She could just picture Kevin as the star quarterback of the football team, the most popular boy in school that _all_ the girls wanted to date. "In fact, I wasn't even permitted a table."

"I was kind of a mess in high school," he admitted with a laugh, looking a little sheepish.

"Yeah? That surprises me." It was hard to imagine this handsome, self-confident man as being anything less than he was.

He nodded, folding his napkin and set it aside. "It was a surprise to most people, particularly my parents, who could, you know, barely show their faces at the country club for a while."

"Oh, no, country club? You're one of those." That was unexpected! She'd figured he'd grown up in a blue-collar neighborhood, but the tailored suits, carefully-styled hair, and GPS navigator made a lot more sense now.

Kevin laughed wryly as he sipped his wine. "Social Register, too."

"You're full of surprises, you know that?" Laurie hid her admiring gaze behind a sip of her wine. From what she knew, people who were members of a country club and on the social register didn't really go in for work. At least, not this kind of work! She had to know more. "So this, this FBI thing-- why did you become a G-man?"

Kevin sat back in his chair, his expression wry. "Well, it's a little more complicated, but I have three older sisters and my father was delighted to finally have a son. I was under a lot of pressure to be the perfect son and kind of let the freedom of college go to my head. With some help from a psychologist, I got my act together and decided I liked psychology. Father wasn't too pleased when I switched majors because he'd wanted me to take over the family business. So, I took my rebellion even further and signed up to join the FBI. I should say that the FBI has given me the greatest sense of purpose I've ever felt. On most days."

"You seem a little distracted tonight," she couldn't help voicing her observation, wondering if he was bored with her company, but unwilling to come right out and ask.

He offered a reassuring smile, as if he sensed the deeper meaning behind her question, "It's just the case. You know, Charlie's math proves that our main suspect _does_ fit the profile for a school shooting, but his math also shows us that our shooter number 3 wasn't on a shooting rampage."

"I'm failing to see the inconsistency." Laurie meant the words more to prompt further explanation. She hoped she could help Kevin and was flattered he was even confiding in her at all. Some men wouldn't want to show that they were struggling with something, especially to a woman they were hoping to impress.

Kevin fidgeted with his wine glass. "The first two shooters fit the profile of a school shooter. They show unbridled rage. This third shooter was calculated. It was a planned attack, it's indicative of a whole other motive."

"You know, in cosmology, when faced with logical inconsistencies, I like to fall back on an old chestnut: _'If you don't like the answer, ask a different question.'_ " Laurie trusted that Kevin was astute enough to pick up on what she was trying to say.

* * *

"6 AM, I get a call from Charlie saying you got some new angle on the case?" Don looked only mildly disgruntled as he met up with Kevin on the bridge leading to the FBI building.

Kevin nodded, his mind more on the case than about what he was saying: "It was something that Laurie said to me over dinner last night."

"Wait, wait, you and Laurie had dinner last night?" Don stopped and stared at him and Kevin could practically _see_ Don's protective side coming online.

He pretended to literally grab his words from the air and stuff them back into his mouth. As much as he liked his colleagues, he'd wanted to keep his budding relationship with Laurie under wraps for the moment. "No, moving on. She just got me thinking: you and I both have our doubts that Dietrich is the third shooter, right?"

"Right." The shorter man nodded, listening intently.

Relieved that Don was focusing on the case and not his love life, Kevin continued to explain: "What if we need to look at this in reverse? What if we need to study the victimology? Shooter number three picked all of his targets for a specific reason. There has to be a reason why."

"Oh, I see. So, what, just have Charlie do what he was doing with the suspects, but do it with the victims?" Don frowned in thought, trying to follow.

Nodding again, Kevin was relieved that Don understood where he was coming from. "Yeah, if we can find a common denominator, it might take us back to the killer."

"Yeah, all right, that's good." Don nodded, wiping a hand over his mouth thoughtfully. Glancing back at Kevin, he asked, "Where'd you have dinner?"

Shaking his head with a groan, Kevin opened the door and went inside. Of course, the moment they stopped talking about the case, Don focused on the date. He knew without looking that the other man had come up behind him. "What I do or don't do with Laurie is my business, Don."

"I just don't want to see her hurt," Don replied, standing calmly beside Kevin as they waited for the elevator. "She and Charlie have been friends for years, so she's sort of like family, you know?"

He glanced at the shorter man, vaguely amused that Laurie actually had two men who were protective of her. Kevin hid a grin as Alan's face came to mind. _Make that_ three _men protective of her..._ "Charlie already asked me about my intentions towards her and he approves."

"Oh, well, that makes a difference." Don grinned suddenly as they stepped onto the elevator. "Just remember that I'll take you out if you hurt her, one of my agents or not."

Kevin laughed as he leaned back against the elevator wall, though he took the threat as seriously as Don meant it. "Understood, Don."

* * *

"You should have seen that wrestler when we went to the school to arrest him," Kevin told the others as they gathered at the Eppes home to decompress after the case. Laurie sat next to him, aware of his arm resting on the back of her chair and just pressing against her back. "The moron was a total prick."

Colby shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "He insisted it was his word against Karen's and that no one would believe her. When we told him about the picture his friend took, he still refused to go with us."

"So Colby here took him down with a few Krav Maga moves," David added with an admiring grin for his partner.

She grinned sheepishly. "I figured he'd rely on his wrestling, so I went with something he wasn't going to expect."

"He was very embarrassed and angry when Colby pulled him up," Kevin finished with a laugh. "I don't think he's been beaten by anyone for some time now, so for a woman to do it..."

The woman in question held up her hand to cut off her colleague's words. "This woman is trained in self-defense and hand-to-hand combat."

"It was still a blow to his ego regardless," Kevin retorted, amused exasperation in his voice.

Laurie nudged him gently, catching his attention. "She's going to be modest no matter what you say. Might as well give it up."

"Good point." Grinning, Kevin gave it up and the discussion turned to other topics.

For her part, Laurie scooted just a little closer to him. She smiled when his arm slid properly around her shoulders. She'd missed this part of dating someone.

* * *

"17 years old and his future is already a foregone conclusion," Laurie mused, sitting back a little so the waitress could take her cleared plate. "I mean, how fearsome a thought that is, that a single choice can determine a destiny."

Kevin looked up from toying with the last few bites of his food. "Buck Winters or Crystal Hoyle's destiny?"

"One is essentially a child, the other a fully-formed adult." Laurie shrugged, taking a bite of her toast.

He held up his finger as he reminded her: "Formed around a 15-year-old girl who made the sort of bad decisions a 15-year-old girl can make, and then those decisions stay with you for the rest of your life."

"I am detecting here, an authority that transcends the theoretical." She looked expectantly at him, but without pressure.

The FBI agent ducked his head sheepishly, remembering his adolescence. "Well, I didn't run away from home, but I didn't walk, either. Unlike Crystal, I can live with all of my decisions. I don't even regret most of them." He paused a moment and looked at her. "Does that make you uncomfortable?"

"Listen, I live in hotel rooms, I sleep on office sofas. Does that make you uncomfortable?" The astrophysicist eyed him shyly, as if afraid he would say yes.

Laughing, Kevin told her, "No, I find it oddly attractive."

"You continually put me in mind of the M-57 nebula." Laurie replied with a laugh of her own, gesturing to illustrate her point as she continued. "Both of you with these layers upon layers of endless complexity."

He grinned cheekily in reply. This was one of the things he liked about Laurie Fleinhardt. Her comparisons and analogies were so unique and so very _her_. "You know, I don't think I'm ever gonna tire of being compared to the M-57 nebula. Thank you for joining me for breakfast. I was way too wound up to go home." She smiled the shy, adorable smile that he liked so much and they finished eating in silence. After Kevin had paid the check and they were walking out of the restaurant he told her, "Hey, you should give me a call when your orbit comes back around." He carefully nudged her shoulder with his. "Maybe towards _my_ place sometime."

He waited until he saw Laurie climb in her car and drive off before he headed to his own, digging in his pocket for his keys. "Not exactly the kind of girl I pictured you with." Kevin reached under his jacket for his gun the moment he heard that voice. "I really wouldn't if I were you." His hand still on his gun, he turned to face Crystal and saw that she was holding a hand grenade. "You know who I am, you know what I'm capable of." She pulled the pin, only her grip on the grenade keeping it from going off. "We live or we die: it's your choice."

He reluctantly handed her his gun, feeling naked without the reassuring weight in his shoulder holster. As Crystal checked the gun, he asked her, "What do you want to do? You want to live or you want to die?"

"What I want is you to get in the car and drive." She stepped close to him, clearly not intimidated by the fact that he was taller and stronger than her and could probably take her down easily if she didn't have the grenade.

His heart drumming in his chest, Kevin did as Crystal ordered. He should have seen this coming: a hostage for a hostage.

* * *

"Charles, why are you just _sitting_ here?" Laurie asked when she found her young colleague in one of the conference rooms, staring at a whiteboard full of equations.

The mathematician turned his head to gaze at her, sympathy in his brown eyes. "Thinking."

"About?" She gazed at him, rubbing her hands together restlessly.

Charlie got up, indicating the board as he spoke. "Paredo improvements. Shapely values. Centipedes."

Laurie sat down beside him on the table, trying to find the calm she usually felt when Charlie worked a case with Don. "You know, Charles, Kevin is a captive and he may be gravely wounded. I think this might be a time for solutions, not these--these intellectual musings."

"Laurie, I'm every bit as concerned about him as you are--" Charlie began, but she quickly interrupted him.

"Oh, I very much doubt that." She couldn't imagine anyone being as concerned as she was.

He continued as if she hadn't interrupted him. "--but for me to help, I need to maintain an even temper and a lucid thought process. So, your anxiety is understandable, but it's not helpful."

"Yeah, I know, I know." Laurie stood up and began to pace again, unable to stay still any longer for all the emotions running through her. She couldn't remember being this worried or concerned about anyone else she'd dated. Of course, none of them had been Federal Agents, either. "I'm just clouded with emotion and I am perversely resenting you for your clear-headedness here. What can I do to help?"

Charlie stared at her for a moment. "Right now?" He sighed softly. "Leave."

"I will do that." Laurie left the conference room, trying to find somewhere private to give in to the worry, fear, helplessness, and guilt she felt over Kevin's kidnapping. Maybe things would have been different if she'd accepted his implicit invitation.

* * *

Kevin glanced at the clock on the bedside table. He had to do something. "Shouldn't we be headed to the airport?"

"You think I'm fool, don't you?" The bathroom window slammed shut. "You don't just abandon somebody that loves you." Crystal stalked past him to the bedroom window to peer out between the drapes there.

He watched her, still working out the pieces of the puzzle she made. "That's the second time you used the word 'abandon'. Are you talking about Buck or your daughter?"

"Billy just took her right out of my arms!" She turned from the window, anger twisting her face.

Kevin shifted positions, crouching rather than sitting. "You were fifteen years old."

"That's an explanation, not an excuse." Crystal looked out the window again. "I was too weak to protect her then. I'm not weak anymore."

He started to use what knowledge he had of her to rile her up. "Crystal, she's not a baby. You're talking about a teenage girl who you wouldn't recognize if she walked in that door."

"No!" Crystal took a few steps toward him, clearly in denial. "There's a bond between a mother and a child--"

He cut her off as he got to his feet, determined to make his point. "You know what? That is a _fantasy_! You know what reality is? You are thinking of ripping her out of the arms of two people who have devoted their entire lives to taking care of her." He could see that he was getting to Crystal, see the conflict on her face and in her body language. "What kind of life do you have to offer? You gonna take her on the road with you, robbing liquor stores?"

"Shut up!" This was never something she wanted to hear.

Kevin was going to say his piece, though, thinking of the girl that would be harmed the most if Crystal went through with her plan. "She is old enough to be Buck's sister! She's the same age you were when you left home!" Crystal covered her face, and then her ears, as if to block out his voice. He just talked louder. "Is that what you're gonna do? You're gonna make your child live through all the same mistakes you made?"

Crystal snatched up the gun and pointed it at him, grim determination on her face once more. "I thought you were trying to stay alive?"

"I just want you to think this through," he replied, feigning fear, as if the threat of the gun had punctured all the bravado that had made him rant at her.

Just as Kevin had predicted, Crystal started towards him. He used the opportunity to kick her, knocking her down and making her lose the gun. Dropping to his knees, he managed to grab it from where it had fallen. She was quick, though, and grabbed it at the same time. After a brief struggle during which the gun went off, Crystal got the gun away from him. Kevin saw stars when she pistol-whipped him across the face. He was too dazed to react when she undid the handcuffs. By the time he'd regained some of his senses, his hands were cuffed behind his back and they could both hear sirens getting closer.

When tires screeched in the parking lot, Crystal grabbed a grenade and pulled the pin. Pulling Kevin to his feet and holding a knife to his neck, she pushed him ahead of her out onto the walkway. "Shoot me and we all go!"

"Okay! Slow down, Crystal!" Kevin recognized that voice as David's. "Just calm down!"

"Grenade!" That was Colby, in response to Crystal tossing the grenade at their car.

As they ran for cover, Crystal dragged Kevin back into the hotel room. His head rang when she hit him in the temple with the hilt of her knife. Groaning as he fell to the ground, Kevin barely felt the hot slice of the knife across his arm, feeling very woozy now. When he heard the other's voices, he knew he would be safe now. He'd get to see Laurie again after all.

* * *

Relieved that David hadn't taken offense to her words earlier, Laurie went into Kevin's hospital room. He and Charlie looked up at her entrance and she hesitated, clutching the bamboo plant in her hands tightly. "Hi."

"Laurie." He barely breathed her name, gesturing weakly for her to come over to his bed.

She did so and barely had a chance to set the plant on the bedside table before he pulled her into a hug. Caught by surprise, she returned the hug, burying her face in his neck. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked, his cheek resting against her hair.

Laurie pulled back so she could look at him and see for herself that he was all right. "I didn't do anything for you."

"It's not your fault Crystal kidnapped Kevin," Charlie interrupted just then, distracting them. "It could have easily been David or Colby or even--" his breathing hitched "--Don."

Kevin nodded, reaching up to tuck a strand of Laurie's hair behind her ear. "Charlie's right, Laurie. Crystal wanted a hostage and any one of us would have suited her purposes."

"I didn't even help to find you," Laurie blurted out, feeling it was important to tell him that. "I was so worried and anxious that I couldn't focus, couldn't think rationally."

A fond smile spread across Kevin's face. "That's quite a compliment. Thank you."

"A compliment?" She stared at him, surprised that he was pleased by her lack of assistance.

He yawned then, sinking further into the pillows. "I'm sorry, but I'm very tired."

"Of course, we understand." Charlie squeezed the agent's hand, and then moved around the bed to urge Laurie from the room.

She went unwillingly, looking back at Kevin until the door shut behind them. "Why did he consider it a compliment that I couldn't help, Charles?"

"Give it some thought and I'm sure you'll figure it out," Charlie replied with a grin.

Laurie stared after him for a few moments, still puzzled. Shaking her head with a sigh, she reluctantly followed him. With Kevin finally safe and recovering, she could get some proper rest.

* * *

Twenty-four hours later found Kevin and Laurie walking slowly along one of CalSci's many paths. He listened as she talked, gesticulating as she did. "But, you know, I'm forever looking outward for my miracles. Uh, comet Wilde-2, with its core forged in stellar flame, the spectral properties of supernova remnant 1713.7-3946, just the sheer magnificence of the Magellenic Clouds." He smiled faintly, enjoying the passion she showed for her subject. "I don't know, every once in awhile, I allow these, these outer wonders kind of blind me to the-the inner miracles that are occurring, transpiring every day, all around us."

"I didn't see any miracles today, Laurie." Kevin hated to admit it, but it was true. He just saw a woman unable to accept her mistakes, dead because she didn't want to go to jail.

"No, no, no, but, you see, the tendrils that connect human beings--" Laurie took his hands in hers, her skin soft against his-- "one to another, they're just so...unlikely, so inherently, um, fragile. I-I think that it's a miracle that they even exist at all."

Smiling, Kevin leaned down to kiss her softly, unable to resist her any longer. He felt her stiffen with surprise for a moment before melting into it with a soft sigh. When he lifted his head, she looked a little dazed. "I'd say that was quite a miracle, too, wouldn't you?"

Looking up at him, a rather silly smile spread across her face. "That's the most beautiful miracle of all, when two human beings connect on such a level that one of them takes it as a compliment when the other can't help rescue them from danger for their worry and anxiety."

"Did you figure that one out on your own or did someone have to explain it to you?" Kevin asked with a teasing smile as they continue on their way, still holding hands.

Laurie's laugh was distinctly sheepish. "Well, I _did_ ask Charles, but he told me to figure it out on my own."

"And what did you figure out?" Kevin brushed a kiss across her temple, breathing in the scent of chalk, books, and something indefinable that was just _Laurie_.

She looked up at him with a shy smile. "That you took my inability to help as a sign of how much I've come to care for you."

"Exactly." He stopped her so he could kiss her again, finding her shy smile irresistible. When he could speak again, he added: "For the record, if it'd been reversed, I'd have been just as useless at helping to find you."

Laurie smiled and they continued walking in silence, enjoying the miracle of this connection that they had formed.

  
**End**   



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